Break Ke Baad

Director: Danish Aslam

Actors: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone,Sharmila Tagore,Shahana Goswami,Yudishtir Urs

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about certain couples. While they may be in a serious relationship, a good way to figure if they started out being close friends, is if the girl calls the boy by his last name. As does the heroine here. She (Deepika; innately natural) calls her boyfriend (Imran) ‘Ghulati’, his surname also a popular Pandara Road restaurant in New Delhi, where the two drive around in yellow Volkswagen Beetle, pick up Gudang Garams from the local ‘Prince’ paan shop.

The couple first bumped into each other when kids at a cinema. They’d simultaneously rattle off lines from Shekhar Kapur’s Mr India, wear red glasses for the show. Both were Bollywood buffs, growing up in the ‘90s, when Ek do teen made for fine lyrics, and Shah Rukh Khan’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was the ultimate in mush. So much about recent Hindi movies is a nod to movies from the past. This one’s no different. To be fair, the hero’s “Papaji” owns a theatre himself. Watching films from the projectionist’s room is part of their lives not being ‘filmy’, I guess, their sole symbol of youthful rebellion (recall I Hate Luv Storys, this is a superior take).

The couple was best friends for 10 years; they dated for 10 years after, having made no common friends in the meanwhile! The two remain stuck to each other. “You complete me,” she tells him, quoting from the ultimate ‘90s rom-com, Jerry McGuire. They do complete each other in many ways: she only has a mother, he has only a dad. She’s “focused”. He is “unsure”, laidback (daddy's wealth can dull the brightest brains). She has ambitions. He has her. Symmetry is complete. She shifts to Australia, inhales new life, rooms in with a sort of alien (for a romantic flick) who’d sleep with anything that moves (haw!). The hero at home gawks at his cellphone the closest he can come to a girlfriend. The phone merely blares out issues each day they can barely resolve. It’s called growing apart. Those who’ve been in long-distance, insecure relationships will know. It’s best to move on.

Here, the boyfriend moves in instead to be with his girl, now his ex. She dates no one else in the interim. He's determined to get her to love him back. The picture makes for an entire subset of richly urbane, romantic Hindi movies that reflect at some level a ‘feminised’ young man (Wake Up Sid, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na), who graciously, lazily balances out the fiery new woman. And eventually, comes of age.

These films progressively question human expectations and complications we call love, yet sweetly retreat at once to soul mates that last forever. The equilibrium is smartly restored. Intellectualising further bears few fruits. Some could find them slightly sappy for their belated conclusions. But you take on the exhaustion only if the film is subversive enough and remains endearingly exciting for most parts. This one certainly does. "It's a young urban story, but at its heart it has a classical romantic element to it," Imran said about the film.

The story of the movie focuses on Abhay Gulati (Imran) and Aaliya Khan (Deepika), who are childhood friends turned lovers. While Aaliya desires to become an actress irrespective of whatever it takes, Abhay is still unsure about his calling. As their relationship blossoms, the pair start facing differences due to their different personalities.

Things become difficult when Aaliya decides to go to Australia for further studies and Abhay gets restricted to a long distance relationship, and fears that he will lose her forever. They then decide to take time off from each other to figure out their priorities in life and career. The two eventually make mistakes, deal with disappointments, even lose each other but become stronger individually.

"Space is a word that is used a lot in a modern relationship. It's almost a break-up mantra. I wanted to explore that concept rather than a conventional love story where two people don't know each other, meet and fall in love," Aslam told IANS. "I wanted to show what happens to two people, who have known each other for their entire life, if their relationship breaks. I found the concept more exciting than just writing run-of-the-mill love story," he added.

Talking about her character Aliya, Deepika said: "She believes that if you are in a relationship, it doesn't mean you have to get married. She doesn't believe that a couple have to live together and certain things like that. Her way of thinking about a relationship is very different. She is also very immature sometimes when it comes to relationships," she added. Imran said that he could easily relate to his character in this film as he found himself in a similar situation a few years ago. "So being in a relationship and not knowing where my life was headed is something I could relate to," said Imran.

Both actors are looking for a hit with "Break Ke Baad" as both their last outings "I Hate Luv Storys" and "Lafange Parindey", respectively, tanked at the box office. First thing you have to accept when you are going to watch Break Ke Baad is that it is a romantic comedy and hence it is vain to expect something unpredictable. The genre dictates that it will be a love story, there will be light moments, there will be some drama and finally there will be a happy ending. Now if you have an issue with predictability then romantic comedies aren't for you. And once you accept the condition you could open yourself up for some fun Break Ke Baad offers.

BKB is a film about an Aaliya (Deepika) and Abhay (Imran) who are in early twenties but have already been dating for ten years and were friends for ten years before that. They are diverse characters and at first look they are a least likely couple. Aaliya wants to become an actress and also explore the world while Abhay is the sober guy who takes care of everything and everyone. He is afraid of telling his father that he does not want to be a part of the family business for the fear of upsetting him. A completely opposite character, Aaliya does not bother about others much and rather believes in doing what she likes. And she does not believe in marriage while Abhay is a completely docile 'family man'! Trouble arises when Aaliya decides to leave for Australia to study and talks to Abhay about a 'break'. Though Abhay does not agree he gives in. Distance creeps into the relationship as usual till Abhay decides to take charge of thing. With a promise of entertaining the youth, debutant director Danish Aslam tries to offer you an old story with some new twists and turns incorporated in it. However, you will enjoy the chemistry between the two young leads Imran Khan as Abhay and Deepika Padukone as Aaliya. They are childhood sweethearts, who share their first kiss when they watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai for the third time. So, it’s genuinely a love story but with some added fun elements.

Aaliya is ambitious, gorgeous and stubborn while Abhay is aimless in his life. For Aaliya, love is not everything and wants to be a renowned actress. But they can’t stay without each other even when they fight. You must have seen her saying ‘Main Shah Rukh Khan hu’ during the promos and that is one funny seen where she is totally drunk. Even though, she is insensitive sometimes but knows Abhay is the strong pillar of her life. To fulfill her ambition, Aaliya leaves for Australia and Abhay follows her. Here, you can see some funny but confusing scenes between them. Finally, Lillette Dubey enters the scene and she does not mind calling Aalia ‘chudail’ even when she has divorced thrice in her own life. And while we talk about romantic comedies, Break Ke Baad has its own newness. The characters are very appealing and so is the treatment. The film has been written interestingly with a lot of humor added at regular intervals. The first half specifically is very enjoyable as both the lead characters achieve full flight. The screenplay is good. The opening credits are a special delight as the childhood and love story unfolds along with credits in a brilliantly planned manner. The second half does fall in pace and drags before the final moments lift it up again, in the typical mad-rush to fix things. The dialogues are good. The film is strong on technical aspects. It has been shot and edited well. Music is not the strongest part of the film, yet songs like Adhure Hum and Dooriyan strike a chord.

Imran and Deepika fit perfectly into their characters and come up with good performances. Deepika especially is really good as her character goes through transitions. Yudishtir brings in laughter with his lines. Shahana Goswami takes a back seat. Sharmila Tagore is a graceful as ever. Overall Break Ke Baad is a decent entertainer. This movie should particularly entertain the youth; more so the girls who are certainly going to be wooed by Imran's character. The older generations may not find it in sync with their tastes. Nevertheless debut director Danish Aslam makes sure he is here to stay.